Waiting
by Riika Duskraven
Summary: Soul disappeared and Kid can't help but wonder if it's his fault. When an aimless walk leads him to an oddly new place, he's presented with an opportunity to see it in a new light. And that was when he decided he'd wait. No matter how long, he would wait for Soul to return. Because he would return. Prequel to Remember When.


R: *sitting in the corner*

Cat: Riika are you okay?

R: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Cat: Sorry for what?

R: I couldn't get it written...

Cat: What?

R: I can't finish chapter 2 of Conviction in time. I failed.

Cat: Oh, it's okay. I'm sure they'll understand.

R: *sighs* I hope so. I wrote this as an apology for not being done yet. I hope they like it.

Cat: I'm sure they will.

R: Thank you to those of you who wished me well. I'm sorry I've been so down. I'm trying. The next chapter of Conviction will be up as soon as I figure out what to write in the middle. For now, I hope you enjoy this.

Disclaimer:: Cat and I don't own Soul Eater or its characters. This is the prequel to Remember When (Push Rewind) but you don't need to read that to understand this or vise versa.

* * *

_"Hey! Wait up!" The familiar voice made him stop dead in his tracks. He turned, so slowly the seconds ticked by like hours. He could see a shadow at the end of the path. It wasn't close enough yet to make out who it was, but that didn't matter. He knew. He'd know that voice anywhere. The shadowed figure drew closer and he could see the light start to bend around the figure, giving it color. White hair, red dress shirt, half-undone tie. He stopped a few feet away, panting. "I wanted to talk to you but you'd already left."_

_"Yeah, sorry about that. It was getting too crowded for comfort."_

_"It's okay, I understand. Your dad does throw big parties, though, I figure you'd be used to it by now," he said, a lop-sided smile showing off his pointed teeth._

_"Parties aren't really my idea of fun, that's all," he said with a shrug._

_"You never did strike me as one who would enjoy big parties like that."_

_He ran a hand through his raven-colored hair, straightening out a tangle that had been bothering him for a while. "So what did you want to talk about?" He could almost believe that the albino had forgotten what he wanted to say. But he doubted that he would have followed him all the way out here just to forget. He thought he saw the other's cheeks turn pink. Probably just a trick of the light._

_"Ah, right, I, um... I, uh... Kid, I lo-"_

* * *

He let out a tired groan as he cracked his eyes open to darkness. _That would have been a great dream if I hadn't woken up._ He noted. _Well, I should know better than to think he'd confess to me. I'll have to confess if I ever want him to know. I should, before it's too late..._ He rolled onto his side, then to the other. He focused on the weak red light coming from his alarm clock. It took a minute for the numbers to come into focus. 2:57 am. He pulled a pillow over his head to try to stop the ringing in his ears. Except that it wasn't ringing, he realized, it was knocking. Someone was knocking on his door, clearly very intent on waking him up. He listened. _One, two, three. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four._ He sighed. Whoever it was clearly forgot how to knock properly on his door.

He rolled out of bed and shuffled to the door. He pulled the door open, his irritation in being awoken clear on his face. He was surprised to find not one of the Thompson sisters behind the door, but Maka. He could see worry in her eyes, clear as day. "What's wrong?" he asked with a yawn.

"Have you heard from Soul?" she asked in a rush.

"Soul?" he repeated, not quite understanding her question in his half-asleep state.

"Yes, Soul. I haven't seen him since two nights ago. He wasn't at school and he never came home. I'm worried."

He was awake now, fully alert. How could Soul be _missing_? "Have you called him? Searched his usual hiding places?"

The blonde haired meister nodded. "I've tried everything I can think of. He won't answer his phone, if he even has it with him. I keep getting the answering machine." She'd been trying to keep calm but he could see her panic growing. He pulled her into a gentle hug in an attempt to comfort her. "Kid I don't know what to do!" she sobbed, wrapping her arms tight around him.

Though his own worry plagued his mind, he knew he had to stay calm, for Maka's sake. "You need to get some rest. I know you haven't slept these past two days," he said.

She sniffled, looking up at him with watery eyes. "I'm fine, really."

He pressed a hand to her forehead. "You have a fever. You were out in the storm yesterday looking for him, weren't you?" He didn't need an answer, he already knew. He knew how much she cared for her weapon. He sighed, releasing her to sweep her up in his arms.

"I'm fine, I can walk," she protested. But he knew she was weak. He could feel her shaking and he knew it wasn't just from the crying.

He walked down the hall and pushed open the door to one of the guest rooms. He pulled back the covers and gently set her down, pulling the thick comforter over her. "Stay put," he told her before disappearing into the bathroom. He returned a moment later with a damp cloth in hand. He placed it on her forehead so the coolness of it could soothe her burning skin. "Get some sleep. We're not going to discuss this any more until you're all better. It won't do any good to have you up and about and worrying while you're sick," he said sternly. She nodded weakly and he smiled. "Good. Good night, Maka."

"Good night, Kid," she whispered as he left.

* * *

"Any sign of him?" The scythe-meister asked as she walked through the front door. It was nearly dark and there was a sense of worry that filled the air of the black and white living room. It seemed to surround them all. By this point everyone was in the living room, comfortably seated on the many couches Kid had placed there for symmetry purposes. Maka joined them, sitting next to Crona and Ragnarok.

The ravenette set the tray of coffee cups he was carrying down on one of the tables. The cups were passed around until each person had one and he seated himself on the empty couch that was normally where he and Soul sat. "No. We didn't find anything. Not so much as a footprint in the dust," he sighed. He stared blankly down at his cup of coffee. Despite the warmth it provided, he felt cold.

"We didn't find anything either," Tsubaki added.

"Ragnarok and I didn't see him from the air. I think it's safe to assume he's left the city or one of us would have found him already," Crona said, glancing around at the discouraged faces of the group.

Maka leaned back into the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "So it's official. He's gone," she stated, sadness in her tone.

"What would possess him to take off like that without telling anyone? Without telling me..." he thought aloud.

"Kid? Are you okay?" Liz asked.

He set his untouched cup of coffee on the table and stood. "I'm going for a walk," he said, leaving the manor before anyone could protest. He shivered in the cool night air. Though it was mid-March, it was still pretty cold. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and picked a direction. He didn't know where he was headed, but right now anything was better than there.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and hit speed dial number 8. It rang twice before going to voicemail. _Why didn't he answer? _he wondered. He hung up and dialed again. This time it went straight to voicemail. "I'm worried, Soul. Where are you?" he asked aloud. It wasn't intended to be left as a message, just a question. But he didn't mind that it had been recorded as well. Maybe Soul would call back.

_Who am I trying to kid? He won't call back. He would have already if he were going to. He has his phone. But I still don't understand... Why did you leave, Soul?_ He let out a heavy sigh as he rounded a corner onto a street whose name he didn't bother to look at. _I just don't get it. Was it something we did? Maka, Black*Star, me. Did we do something to make you want to leave? Or maybe it was just me. Did I wait too long to tell you how I felt? Or maybe you've known all along and wanted to escape before I could act on it. That's it, isn't it? I don't know..._ His speculations continued as he walked and most of them led back to himself.

* * *

Midnight had come and gone by the time he found himself growing weary. _How long have I been walking for?_ he wondered. He paused to stretch and the steady beat of music reached his ears. He walked a few streets over and found the source of the music he had heard. _Melodie's Lounge_ as the sign claimed. Overtaken with curiosity about the mysterious place, he pushed the door open and was greeted with a burst of warm air accompanied by the echo of music as it bounced around the room.

"Something's getting in the way, something's just about to break, I will try to find my place in the Diary of Jane." He could see a boy on stage, not much older than himself, who was singing with a beautiful power you'd never guess he had.

"Welcome to Melodie's Lounge." He tore his amber gaze away from the boy on stage to fix his sight on a woman with red hair. He didn't notice how short her mint green dress was or how perfectly symmetrical the pattern was. "If you'll follow me, I can show you to your seat," she said with a smile. He followed without paying much attention and slid into the booth. "Can I get you anything?" she asked.

"Ginger ale, please," he answered, his gaze wandering back to the boy on stage as the song drew to a close. There was an uproarious shouting of "encore" before the final notes had finished ringing. He watched as the boy hesitated then reached a hand down into the crowd. He pulled a girl up on stage with him and nodded to the DJ to start another song.

"You come to me with scars on your wrist. You tell me 'This will be the last night feeling like this'," the boy sang.

"I just came to say goodbye, didn't want you to see me cry, I'm fine," the girl joined in.

"But I know it's a lie."

He sipped on his ginger ale as he watched the pair perform their duet. From the way they acted he suspected they'd done this before, but he could have been wrong. When the song was over, he watched the two hop off stage and make their way to the bar. He left the money he owed on the table and went over to join them. "You two were great."

The boy, whom he noted up close had dark red hair, turned to face him. "Thanks."

The girl, a blonde haired woman with green eyes, tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm Anna. This is Shaw. And you are?"

"Death the Kid."

Anna raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. She knew who he was, of course. Lots of people did. But she wouldn't make a scene of it. "It's a lot of fun. Have you ever done it before?" she asked curiously, glancing quickly towards the stage.

The reaper shook his head. Never in all his life had he thought about singing. "I wouldn't be very good at it," he answered.

The girl laughed quietly. "You should give it a shot. It's open to everyone." He considered this for a moment. Maybe he should. No, definitely not, he was not going to- His thoughts were interrupted when Anna cut in again, "We could do a duet, if you want. You and me, to get you into it."

"A duet?" he echoed. He didn't have time to respond before the blonde was dragging him onto the stage behind her. He gripped the microphone she handed him tightly in his hands as she told the DJ their song choice. The music faded from the normal club music into the melody of the song Anna had chosen for them.

"Don't go breaking my heart,

"I couldn't if I tried.

"Oh honey if I get restless,

"Baby you're not that kind."

He was surprised by how easy it was to forget your nervousness when you were up there. To him, it was just him and Anna. There was a magical quality to the music that he'd never known before. and he felt like he was part of it. It felt alive.

"Ooh ooh, nobody knows it.

"Right from the start,

"I gave you my heart.

"Ohh, oh, I gave you my heart.

"So don't go breaking my heart.

"I won't go breaking your heart."

As the music drew to an end, he felt the crowd and the club fall back into place around him. He let Anna lead him off the stage and he sat beside her at the bar. "That was amazing," he said with a slight smile.

Anna smiled in return. "Told you so. You have a great voice, Kid. You should join us here on Fridays. I'm sure the regulars would love you," she said.

He leaned against the bar, thinking about her offer. He could imagine it, being here every Friday night, performing as he had just a few moments before. Feeling alive and forgetting his troubles for even just a brief amount of time. He thought of Soul and how he would have loved this place, the music, the atmosphere. He knew if Soul were here he'd tell him to go for it. He smiled slightly at the thought. "Sure, sounds like fun," he said. Anna smiled in return and launched back into her former conversation with Shaw.

The more he thought about it, the more he was sure this was best for him. He wanted to get better so when Soul got back he could show him this and sing for him. And he would get better. He would practice and he would perform and he would get better. It would be a good way to pass the time too. So he'd practice and wait for Soul to return. Because Soul _would_ return. Someday. So for now, he contented himself in thinking about his goal and didn't think about the waiting. He knew that when the right song played, Soul would return. And he would be sure he was the one singing that song.

* * *

R: Well, that was it. Sorry again and I'll try to get that chapter written.

Cat: Reviews and requests are loved. Got questions? Ask away. And don't worry. We're working on cheering her up. Ta ta for now, nya~


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